The moment a group of masked Edinburgh thieves steal a motorbike from outside a property during the night has been captured on video.
The shocking incident took place on Bath Street, Portobello, during the early hours of Thursday morning, June 29. In the video, a group of four people wearing balaclavas enter the driveway through a gate and proceed to cut the bike free.
Despite high-tech security measures and equipment, with motorbike is freed within seconds as its loud alarm kicks in and lights start flashing. Despite neighbours being alerted to the theft, the gang run off with the bike before fleeing the scene.
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Suzanne McIntosh and her husband Callum, who the bike belonged to, have lived in the area for nearly three decades and have described the theft as "horrific."
After being woken up during the early hours by police knocking at the door, who were called by the neighbours, Suzanne has spent hours asking nearby residents if they have any other footage of the suspects which could help the police investigation.
A spokesperson for Police Scotland has confirmed that enquiries into the theft are being carried out by a dedicated North East Motorbike Theft initiative team.
Speaking to Edinburgh Live following the theft of her husband's restored Yamaha DT125, which has been sprayed blue, she said: "The alarm woke the neighbours up as its the type that gets louder and louder.
"You can clearly see a group of people approach the bike with bolt cutters. Callum had a bike stolen a few years ago that was found burnt out at Portobello Golf Course so he had every security device known.
"He had just finished restoring the bike after buying it from a garage in Newcastle, he found parts for it and sprayed it but as you can see they took it within seconds, it's horrific.
"I had been working late last night and as it was the last day of school the street was quite busy and loud so we had just slept through it all. They must have just spotted it and thought 'we're having that'."
Suzanne and Callum are now in the process of phoning around nearby businesses and locals to see if they caught any footage of the thieves before or after the incident.
After putting a post in a local Facebook group, Suzanne said a few people got in touch to say they saw the bike being rode along the high street at 3am. After the bike was cut from its secure base, the thieves are seen wheeling it out of the drive and around the corner.
A Police Scotland spokesperson said: “Around 3.20am on Thursday, 29 June, 2023, police received a report of the theft of a Yamaha motorbike from the Bath Street area of Edinburgh. Enquiries are being carried out by officers from the North East Motorbike Theft Initiative team.”
